By Adrian Stewart Co

The University of Santo Tomas (UST) advanced to the UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball finals following their a 25-19, 25-19, 20-25, 23-25, 15-10 victory over De La Salle University (DLSU) over the weekend at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Ejiya Laure led the win with 25 points, including 21 attacks; while Cherry Rondina scored 17 points, Kecelyn Galdonez added 11, and Caitlyn Viray contributed 10.

Trailing 7-4 early in the first set, UST went on a huge run to take a 22-16 edge on their way to a 1-0 set lead.

DLSU again took the lead early in the second set but errors allowed UST to take the advantage and a 2-0 set edge.

UST were looking to close it out in the third set with a 15-11 lead but a run by DLSU kept them alive. They went on to show nerves of steel in the fourth frame to stretch the match to a decider.

In the fifth, both teams exchanged leads before UST surged to a 10-5 edge. DLSU rallied to within 11-10 but Alina Bicar, Rondina, and Laure came up with clutch hits to move into the championship round.

This will be UST’s first finals appearance in eight years. They will face the winner of the semifinal between Ateneo de Manila University and Far Eastern University./ASC, WDJ